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“I’m still sorry,” he said.

  She shrugged and kept going, past the gazebo, out to the parking lot at the edge of the community center. Will waited until she was safely in her car and the engine had started, before going back inside.

  Hayley came right over, dragging Marius. “Did you scare away Eleanor?” she asked.

  Marius looked extremely uncomfortable.

  Will glowered at Hayley. “No, I did not.”

  “Good. Maybe she had to get back to Nathan. You know, I saw them kissing at The A-Hole a few weeks ago.”

  “What?” Will said loudly, before realizing his mistake.

  Hayley’s light blue eyes lit up. “All right, brother, what’s going on between you and Eleanor?”

  “Nothing,” he said, truthfully.

  Summer and Jackson joined them. The DJ had arrived, and a few couples had started dancing.

  Will hugged Jackson and turned to Summer. “Congratulations,” he said to them both. “Thanks for letting me be a part of this.”

  “I’m so glad you could make it,” Summer said.

  It was the truth, which puzzled Will because he and Summer barely knew each other. Then he realized—Summer was glad Will was there because it was important to Jackson. She cared, because Jackson cared.

  Will felt an emotion welling up within him. Gratitude and joy, for the good fortune of his siblings to end up with their perfect mates.

  His voice full of emotion, he said, “I should probably hit the road.”

  “I don’t think so,” Summer said. “You haven’t danced with the bride, yet.”

  “You can’t seriously want to dance with me,” he said.

  “Yeah, I seriously do,” she said, eyes twinkling.

  Will allowed her to drag him over to the dance floor where a few other people danced to Jimmy Durante’s “A Kiss to Build a Dream On.”

  “I feel like you should be out here with your husband,” Will said.

  “Nah, I get to dance with that fool every day for the rest of my life if I want to,” she said, holding up her ring finger, which sported a simple gold wedding band. “You, though—I feel like you’re gonna bolt as soon as I let you go.”

  “It’s…painful to be here,” Will admitted.

  “Because of the piano player you just chased off?”

  Will shrugged. He didn’t like lying to humans—it didn’t seem fair. “Doesn’t really matter,” he said. “She won’t have anything to do with me—she hates me.”

  “You know, my experience in true love is limited to your brother. But one thing I can tell you is that a woman who really hates a man? She’s not going to go through all the effort of tracking him down just to tell him off. And when that piano player walked into this reception, she went right for you. So maybe she hates you, but I don’t think that’s all there is to it.”

  Will shuffled around the dance floor with Summer, thinking over her words. “I wish you were right,” he finally said.

  Despite that wish, he couldn’t help fearing the thing he wanted most. Because he knew, he just knew with a gut-deep instinct, that as soon as he tethered himself to the Dark Pines territory again, it would all get yanked out from beneath him.

  “It’s my wedding day,” Summer said. “I’m the bride. That makes me right.” She took a step to back out of Will’s arms, and pointed to the door, smiling. “Now go get her.”

  Chapter Nine

  Eleanor drove as fast as she safely could. Will had been just as sexy as ever. It was unfair. Here she was, a good fifteen pounds heavier than she’d been four years ago thanks to eating all her sorrow, and he’d stood there like a big freaking Tower o’ Muscle, looking down at her with his smoldering blue eyes.

  If blue came in the shade of sex, Will’s eyes would match it.

  As soon as she walked inside and locked the door behind her, she peeled off her sweater dress and tossed it on the coffee table.

  She felt too hot and itchy. Was she breaking out in a rash?

  It was probably the flesh-eating disease. Necrotizing fasciitis. She’d learned all about it from the Ask Dr. Bridges app.

  She awkwardly pulled off her boots and made her way to the bathroom, where she looked at herself under the harsh glare of the overhead light. Her skin looked fine, except for the pink tinge to her cheeks and chest. She padded to her bedroom and found her biggest, grossest sweatshirt. Lakewood Liberal Arts read the text on the front. The string was missing from the hood because Fido had kept trying to eat it, and the sleeves were threadbare at the wrists. She took off her bra and sighed the word, “Freedom,” before putting on the sweatshirt. Then she replaced her tights with a pair of leggings that had lost most of the elastic from the waist.

  There, better. Perfectly slovenly, perfectly comfortable. She bet that if the planet’s leaders all wore sweatpants and loose-fitting clothes, they’d be a lot closer to world peace.

  After going back into the living room, she found her phone and pulled up Dr. Bridges’s symptom checker. Pink skin, she typed.

  A list of forty-three different possible skin ailments came up, along with a few questions for ruling each one out.

  Eleanor stared at the list in disgust. She didn’t have necrotizing fasciitis. There was nothing wrong with her. Nothing at all. The fault today was with William Zachary Stupidhead Jaynes. What did she have to be worried about? Nothing.

  Fido came into the room, meowing loudly. Eleanor fed him, even though it wasn’t quite his dinner time, because if she didn’t, he would hassle her mercilessly. Then she returned to the living room and sat on the long couch. On the coffee table in front of her was the cure to all her problems: every available volume of the Interstellar Love Connection graphic novels.

  She grabbed a blanket and settled it over her legs, then grabbed Volume 1: Into Hyperspace.

  Her phone lit up with a text, which she ignored. The prologue was one of her favorite parts. In it, Joona Carpence was saying goodbye to her childhood sweetheart, Dirk Magnage. The art on this particular panel took Eleanor’s breath away—the dark shading beneath Joona’s and Dirk’s faces helped symbolize the loss they were both feeling, and the way his hand was raised, as if he would reach out and stroke her cheek—

  Eleanor shut the book abruptly. Will had made the exact same gesture not more than an hour ago.

  “If pining for that jerk is going to rob me of my favorite series…” Eleanor muttered. But she was unable to finish the threat. She opened the book again, determined to enjoy herself.

  Her phone lit up again. Sighing, Eleanor picked it up. The number was unfamiliar, but the messenger identified himself right away.

  It’s Will. I need to talk to you.

  Please. Can I come over? Where do you live?

  Eleanor frowned. She thought she’d made it pretty clear that she didn’t want to talk anymore.

  He sent yet another text. Look, I know it’s none of my business, but I heard you’re with Nathan now. I’m worried. Is he treating you okay? He was always such an asshole. I apologize for saying that about your boyfriend, especially if he’s changed, but it’s the truth.

  She raised her eyebrows. Will was way out of bounds, but it was kind of funny that he was so freaked out over it. Let him sweat. He’d left her, after all, without any real explanation. She’d wondered what had happened for years.

  If she felt like it, she might text him and explain tomorrow. Or, maybe she’d wait four years. It would serve the jerk right.

  Chapter Ten

  Will threw his big duffel bag onto the passenger’s seat of his truck. It was noon, but he hadn’t slept well and he felt like shit. He’d stayed at Marius’s nearly-empty rental the night before, in the hopes that Ellie would text him back and they could talk things out. But if she was with Emory and determined to see things through with him, there wasn’t much Will could do about it.

  Summer had told him to “go get her,” but he couldn’t—not if she didn’t want to be chased.

  He was just climbing into the cab
of his truck when Hayley jogged up wearing running pants and a fleece sweatshirt.

  “What are you doing?” he asked through his open door.

  “You texted to say you were heading out. I thought I’d come say goodbye.”

  “Did you run all the way here?”

  “Yeah,” she said. “It’s not that far. Was staying here okay for you?”

  “It was. Tell Marius I said thanks for letting me use it.”

  “Sure, no worries,” she said. “May as well wring the last of his rent from the place before the lease runs out, right?”

  Marius had moved in with Hayley pretty recently, and they were sharing her tiny studio apartment.

  “He makes you happy?” Will asked, still half-in, half-out of his truck.

  Her expression softened. Gooey. Her face went all affectionate and her eyes looked far-away, just at the thought of her mate. “Yes,” she said, almost on a sigh. “Yes, he does.”

  He’d never thought he’d see his little sister in love like this. He was glad for her while being envious of what she had.

  He wished Ellie had responded to his texts last night.

  “Anyway,” Hayley said, “I need a ride. I’ve got an appointment and my Bug’s in the shop.”

  “If you could run here from your place, you could’ve run to your appointment,” Will pointed out.

  “Yeah, but then I wouldn’t have been able to say goodbye to you. Come on, shart-stain, give me a ride, please?”

  “Oh, well when you ask me like that, how can I refuse?”

  Grinning, she grabbed his duffel and tossed it in the back of the truck.

  Will waited until she was buckling up before turning to her and saying, “You’re a pest, you know that?”

  “I try.” She settled back into her seat as he started the truck. “Just like old times, isn’t it? Sitting in this truck, getting ready to head off to wherever.”

  “Always on the run,” Will said.

  “Yeah. I don’t miss it.” Turning to face him, she said, “I guess you do, though.”

  Will didn’t say anything. He looked at Hayley from the corner of his eye. She wasn’t looking at him, and her expression wasn’t accusatory—just puzzled.

  “I don’t miss it,” he said. “But I can’t stay here. I don’t think you get that.”

  “I’m starting to.”

  He pulled onto Main Street. “Where to?”

  Hayley reached into the pocket of her fleece sweatshirt and got her phone. Tapping the screen a couple of times, she said, “Hang a left on Nightwood.”

  She directed him through a couple more turns until they stopped in front of a small house. This street had more of a suburban feel than some of the others in Huntwood, with its neighbors packed in closer together, and small front yards. From what he could see, though, the back yards led right into the woods.

  “What is this appointment, anyway?” Will asked.

  “Come and see,” Hayley said. Her voice sounded mischievous.

  “Yeah, I don’t think so,” he said.

  Quick as a flash, Hayley reached over and pulled his keys from the ignition. She was out of his truck before he could stop her.

  “Dammit, Hayley,” he said.

  She danced up to the front door of the house and knocked. Turning back to stare at Will, she said, “I have my first piano lesson today.”

  Will glowered at her. Was this Ellie’s house? “What the hell are you doing?”

  But the door was opening, and Ellie stood in the doorway. She looked first at Hayley and gave her a smile, but then her gaze turned to Will, and she looked confused.

  Hayley pressed Will’s keys into Ellie’s hand. “Could you hold these for me, please?”

  Then Hayley marched back to Will.

  “Is your car even in the shop?” he asked her.

  “Yes. I drove it there this morning and parked it in their parking lot so I wouldn’t have to lie to you. Then I ran to Marius’s old place.”

  He stared at her, incredulous. “Why?”

  “There’s something between you two. I don’t know what it is, but this is your chance to figure it out before you leave town. Oh, and, she’s got your keys.” Turning to look at Ellie over her shoulder, Hayley said, “I have to reschedule. I’ll mail you a check for a month’s lessons, okay?”

  Ellie looked like she didn’t know what to say. She nodded, but her forehead was still wrinkled in confusion as Hayley gave Will a quick hug and then took off at a jog down the street.

  Will turned slightly, so that he faced Ellie. “Hi,” he said.

  “Hi.” She still held his keys in her fist. Will was surprised that she didn’t just chuck them into the snow.

  “I guess Hayley wants us to talk,” Will said.

  “I guess so.” Ellie looked like she was battling with herself. Then she said, “I guess you may as well come in.”

  Will knew that one step into Ellie’s house could change everything. The more he saw her, the closer he got to her, the less he wanted to leave the Dark Pines territory. Getting attached was dangerous, but God help him, now that he was here, he couldn’t stay away.

  Chapter Eleven

  Eleanor knew she was staring as Will walked up to her front porch. Over six feet of muscle. The man was more than a foot taller than her, and seeing him stalk forward like this made her heart pound fast, like she was prey. His dark blue eyes were zeroed in on her face. She was the subject of his focus and even if she wanted to escape it, she didn’t think she’d be able to.

  If she was honest with herself, though, she didn’t want to escape his focus. She felt more alive, and more her when she was around Will.

  In four years, the essentials hadn’t changed.

  “Do you have a few minutes?” he asked.

  She couldn’t speak. If she could get to her phone, she’d look it up. Missing voice box, she’d type into the symptom checker. And the Dr. Bridges app would suggest that she get to the hospital immediately because her heart was surely broken.

  He stopped at the bottom step and stared up at her. His face, so dear to her. The strong jaw that she’d once smoothed her hands over as she kissed him. Now it was covered in stubble. Those deep blue eyes that used to remind her of the ocean at night. They were haunted now. You used to be mine, she thought. When he’d finally broken her down, taken away the last of her defenses, when he’d finally gotten her to trust in someone other than herself—he’d gone away.

  She was reminded of the French book, The Little Prince. It had been an assignment for one of her college classes. In the story, a fox asked the prince to tame him. And once the fox was tamed, the prince had to go away. She’d thought it was the saddest, stupidest thing she’d ever read, that part of the story. But knowing about the fox and the prince hadn’t changed her own story at all. She’d still fallen for it like that stupid fox. And like that stupid fox, she’d wanted to be tamed.

  If he wasn’t here right now, she’d be teaching piano or reading ILC for the fifteen hundredth time or binge-watching whatever Netflix recommended. Quiet, geeky pursuits for a quiet, geeky girl. But he was here, standing right before her, with a helpless, haunted look on his face, and she wanted to crumple to the floor mat in front of her door.

  “Ellie?” he asked.

  She shook her head, trying to clear it, and stepped aside so he could come in. “Yeah, I have a few minutes. There are some make-up lessons a little later, an hour from now.”

  He walked up the porch steps and came inside. Fido came out from under the couch, took one look at the hulking man, and scampered off to Ellie’s bedroom.

  Ellie wouldn’t mind hiding under the bed, herself.

  Will stared down at her, and shut the door without looking behind him. He looked the same, but different. Haunted. It wasn’t just the way he carried himself; it was the dark look in his eyes. The man had been in pain for some time now.

  “What happened to you?” Ellie whispered.

  He opened his mouth, closed it,
then rubbed his left thigh roughly. “I got hurt that night of the fire.”

  “Oh.” The sound came out on an exhale. He thought she’d been asking about his limp, but that was only a small part of what she needed to know.

  The big questions still remained, jangling around in her head like loose piano keys. Why didn’t you say goodbye? Why didn’t you let me mourn with you when your parents died? Why did you disappear, and where did you go? Why aren’t you mine?

  “Did you get my texts last night?” he asked. “Or did I have the wrong number and they went to some poor stranger?”

  She gave a wry little laugh. “I got them. I didn’t think you deserved a response.”

  “I don’t,” he said, taking another step toward her.

  He was so close. He smelled clean, like pine trees and mountain air. He smelled like he belonged here.

  “Ellie, are you with Nathan?” he asked.

  She shook her head. “No, I’m not.”

  “Good. That creep never smelled right.”

  “He’s not a creep anymore,” she said. Nathan never smelled right? Eleanor had forgotten the strange phrases Will sometimes used.

  “Okay.” He raised his hand so slowly it seemed in slow-motion. He tilted her chin up at the same time he bent forward, lowering his mouth to hers.

  And she kissed him. Her body betrayed her in every possible way, and Dr. Bridges’s app might have an explanation for it, but as delicious lust coursed through her body, igniting nerve endings she’d pretended she no longer had, Eleanor didn’t care.

  Before she could throw her arms around his neck to deepen the kiss, though, she stopped. This was too much. Too soon. No explanations. She took a step back, out of his reach. “Why didn’t you take me with you?”

  He paused, his eyes half-closed like he was still kissing her. That sleepy, sexy look would be her undoing. Will’s existence would be her undoing. It was like Dirk Magnage coming back to Joona Carpence in Interstellar Love Connection—was the returned Dirk a phantom, or a foe? Or her true love? Either way, nothing would be the same again.

  He cleared his throat. “You’d just gotten into grad school. I couldn’t settle anywhere, Ellie, and I didn’t want to stifle your dreams.”